Trading under the firm-name of crompton



No. 770,495. PATENTED SEPT. 20, 1904. R. OROMPTON & A. J. OREILLY.

SHED FORMING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 11, 1904.

NO MODEL. 2 SHEETS-$HEET 1.

No. 770,495. PATENTED SEPT. 20, 1904. R. GROMPTON & A. J. OREI LLY. SHEDFORMINGMEGHANISM FOR LOOMS.

APPLICATION FILED JAN.11, 1904.

N0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 7F8'M ammm ow.

UNITED STATES Patented September 20, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

RANDOLPH CROMPTON AND ANTHONY J. OREILLY, OF WORCESTER, MAS- SACHUSETTS,ASSIGNORS TO SAID CROMPTON, GEORGE CROMPTON, EDWARD D. THAYER, ANDWILLIAM B. SCOFIELD, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, TRADING UNDER THEFIRM-NAME OF CROMPTON- THAYER LOOM COMPANY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHED-FORMING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 770,495, datedSeptember 20, 1904.

Application filed January 11, 1904- Serial No, 188,477. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, RANDOLPH CRoMr'roN and ANTHONY J. OREILLY, citizensof the United States, residing at Worcester. county of'VVorcester, Stateof Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Shed-Forming Mechanismfor Looms, of which the follow- ,ing description, in connection with theaccompanying drawings, is a specification, like char- Io acters on thedrawings representing like parts.

This invention has for its object to improve and simplify that class oflooms wherein the shed-forming and shuttle-box operating mech anismsderive their movement from continu I 5 ously-rotating partial gears oneor the other of which engages a vibrator-gear carried by a vibratorlever, said partial gear turning said vibrator-gear in one or the otherdirection, as may be required, said loom also havzo ing a pattern-chainshaft that is moved continuously at a variable speed rather thanintermittingly or at intervals.

Our invention is illustrated as applied to that class of loom whereinthe shed-forming and shuttlebox operating mechanisms derive theirmovement from continuously-rotating actuating means, shown as partialcylinder-gears, one or the other of which engages a vibrator-gearcarried by a vibrator-lever 3 and turns said gear partially in one orthe other direction, as may be required, the pattern-chain-carryingshaft of said loombein'g also moved substantially continuously, but at avariable fast and slow speed, as shown in United States Patent No.495,453, dated April 11, 1893, rather than being driven intermittingly,as had been previously done.

In accordance with our invention the driving-shaft for moving theactuating means of 4 shed forming mechanism, said actuating means beingherein illustrated as two partial cylinder-gears, and the driving-shaftfor the pattern-chain-carrying shaft are rotated one from the other at avariable speed. As herein illustrated the pattern-chain-driv-in g shafthas imparted to it the variable or fast and slow speed, the differencein speed being due to gears connecting said two shafts, said shaftsbeing represented as parallel. The gear on the driving-shaft forembracing the actuating means referred to is an oval gear, while thegear on the driving-shaft for driving the pattern-chain-carrying shaftis a reentrant circular gear.

Figure l, in end elevation, shows a loom of well-- known constructionwith the patternchain omitted from the pattern-chain-carrying shaft, wehaving illustrated our invention applied thereto in one of the bestforms now known to us. Fig. 2 is a view of the loom, Fig. 1, looking atthe same from the right. Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail of thegears and clutching-hub on the pattern-chaincarrying shaft. Fig. 4 is anenlarged partial section below the dotted line 00, Figs. 1 and 2; Fig.5, an enlarged view of the pattern-chaincarrying shaft without thepattern-chain, said figure also showing the pattern-chain-driving shaft;Fig. 6, a detail of a guide and its locking device, in which theclutch-rod may be slid. Fig. 7 shows part of the clutch-rod and theguide in section.

The framework A of the loom, the crankshaft A the lower shaft A, drivenin any usual manner, the gear A on said shaft and meshing with thepinion A, fast on a short shaft A, having a suitable bearing A, securedto the end of the loom-frame and extended outwardly, where said shaft isprovided with a bevel-gear A the bevel-gear B surrounding loosely thelower end of an upright shaft B, constituting what is designatedhereinafter as the partial-geardriving shaft, it having usualbevel-gears B B that in turn engage bevel-gears B B fastened,respectively, on

the shafts carrying the lower partial gear B and the upper partial gearB, as well as the shuttle-box controlling partial gears B B commonlyemployed to actuate the vibratorgears B carried by the usualvibrator-levers a, said vibratorgears being connected with usual leversforming a part of shed-forming mechanism and shuttle-box mechanism, areand may be all as common in looms as at present constructed, andespecially in the class of loom referred to in said patent.

The invention to be herein described and claimed relates especially todriving the pattern-chain-carrying shaft (3. This shaft has suitablebearings in the head-motion frame C and is provided at its outer endwith a handwheel 0 by which said pattern-chain-carrying shaft may beturned by hand whenever desired, a clutch-hub, to be hereinafterdescribed, occupying at such time its inoperative position. We haveomitted the pattern-chain; but it may be of any usual construction andwill be carried by the usual hubs 2 2 3 3. The shaft C receives looselytwo bevel-gears C 0*, and between the hubs of these gears said shaft issurrounded by a clutch-hub (J splined to said shaft, (see Fig. 3,) saidhub having an annular groove that is entered by a forked arm C connectedwith and forming part of a clutch-moving rod C, that may be slidlongitudinally in a guide 0 when it is desired to move the hub referredto that it may engage either one or the other of said loose bevelgearsor may occupy a central position between said gears and out of mesh withthe clutching-teeth carried by said gears near the shaft C. The rod Chas a series of notches, (represented by dotted lines, Fig. 7 ,)eitherof which may be entered by a dog C acted upon by a spring O attached tothe guide (1 by a suitable screw C.

The two bevel-gears C and C are rotated constantly by a conical gear D,that meshes with both said gears, one gear being rotated thereby in oneand the other in the opposite direction. The conical gear D is fast on apattern-chain-driving shaft D and having a connected gear D of thepeculiar shape shown in Fig. 4, and We have designated this gear as arentrant circular gear, such name being chosen for the reason that: theteeth 5 at the ends of said gear are arranged in the arc of a circle,while the teeth 6 at the sides of said gear between itscircularly-arranged teeth fall in a sort of concavity in the peripheryof the gear. The reentrant circular gear is driven by an oval gear E,fast on the partial-geardriving shaft B, the gear E rotating twice toeach rotation of the gear D It will be seen that the shaft B in itsrotation at a constant speed will drive the partial gears at a uniformspeed; but the oval gear E, meshing with the teeth of the reentrantcircular gear D fast on the pattern-chain-driving shaft D, will berotated at a variable speed or at an alternately slow and then a fasterspeed, the fast speed being operative while the pointed part of the ovalgear is acting on the teeth 6 of the reentrant circular gear, the slowmotion being imparted to said pattern-chain-driving shaft while thecircular part of the oval gear is in mesh with the circular ends 5 ofthe reentrant circular gear. Imparting variable speed to thepattern-chain-carrying shaft 0 enables the usual indicators of the usualpattern-chain thereon to be brought slowly into contact with the usualvibrator-levers a common to said patent and to thereafter be moved morerapidly to effect a quick change of position of the'usualvibrator-levers to cause the quick engagement of the teeth of thevibrator-gears carried thereby with the teeth ofthe partial gears.

In practice each vibrator-gear B has a connector a, that is attached tousual elbow-levers a If desired, the rotation of the shaft B may bestopped by turning a lever 6, connected with a link 6, attached to anelbowlever 6 sustained by the loom end, said elbow-lever beingconnected, through a link If,

with a fork 6 that enters an annular groove in a plate I), fitted onshaft B, thus raising said plate and causing a pin at its under side tobe withdrawn from a hole in the hub of the gear B. When the hub isdisengaged, the shaft B is freed from the shaft a, and thereafter themovement of the partial gears and pattern-chain shaft may be reversed orturned backward by hand through the handwheel M, carried by, as shown,the upper partial gear, such movement of the partial gears reopening theshed, and if at the same time the clutch-hub is moved on thepatternchain-carrying shaft to engage the opposite bevel-gear then thepattern -chain-carrying shaft will also be reversed. When the gear B isdisengaged from the shaft B and the partial gears are at rest, the hub Cof the clutch may be put into its central position and thepattern-chain-carrying shaft may then be moved in either direction,leaving the pattern-chain-driving shaft at rest.

The vibrator-levers will have coacting with their ends usual lockingmeans for holding said levers in place while the vibrator-gears arebeing moved in the formation of sheds.

Believing ourselves to be the first in loom construction to rotate thepattern-surface-carrying shaft and its driving-shaft at a variable orfast and slow speed from a continuouslyrotating shaft parallel to saiddriving-shaft and intermediate gears, said latter shaft be ing used formoving the actuating means for the shed-forming mechanism, it is not ourintention to limit our invention to the particular form of patternsurface or chain nor to the exact devices illustrated foractuating theshed-forming means.

Having described our invention, what we claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, 1s

1. In a loom, partial gears for actuatingthe shed-forming mechanism, acontinuously-rotatable driving-shaft, and gearing intermediate saidshaft and said partial gears to rotate the same, apattern-surface-carrying shaft, a driving-shaft therefor,andintermeshing gearing carried by both said driving-shafts and adapted torotate said driving-shaft for driving'the pattern-surface at a variableor fast and slow'speed with relation to the' drivingshaft for theshed-forming mechanism, and gearing intermediate said patternsurfacecarrying shaft and its driving-shaft whereby saidpattern-surface-carrying shaft may be turned either forwardly orbackwardly at will.

2. In a loom, acontinuously-rotatable driving-shaft for moving theactuating means of shed-forming mechanism, a pattern-surfacecarryingshaft, a driving-shaft therefor occupying a position substantiallypagallel to the first-named driving-shaft, and intermeshing gearingcarried by both said driving-shafts and adapted to rotate one of saidshafts at a variable or fast and slow speed.

3. In a loom, a continuously-rotatable driving-shaft for moving theactuating means for the shed-forming mechanism, apattern-surface-carrying shaft, a driving-shaft therefor occupying aposition substantially parallel to said first-named driving-shaft, andintermeshing gearing carried by said driving-shafts whereby saidfirst-mentioned continuouslyrotatable driving-shaft rotates saidsecondnamed driving-shaft and the pattern-surfacecarrying shaft at avariable or fast and slow speed.

4. In a loom, a continuously-rotatable driving-shaft having an ovalgear, said drivingshaft moving the actuating. means of shedformingmechanism, a pattern-surface-carrying shaft, a driving-shaft thereforhaving a reentrant circular gear in mesh with the oval gear on saidcontinuously-rotatable drivingshaft, whereby the last-named shaft ismade to turn the pattern-surface-carryingshaft and its driving-shaft ata variable or fast and slow speed.

5. In a loom, a pattern-chain-carrying shaft, gears loose thereon, apattern-chain-driving shaft having a rentrant circular gear and a gearmeshing with and to rotate said loose gears in opposite directions, aclutch hub splined to said pattern-chain-carrying shaft between saidloose gears, means to cause said hub to engage one or the other of saidloose gears to rotate said pattern-chain-carrying shaft in one or theother direction, a shaft parallel to the patternchain-driving shaft andhaving an oval gear meshing with a reentrant circular gear carrieddirectly by the driving-shaft for said patternsurface-carrying shaft,whereby one of said driving-shafts revolved at a uniform speed willrotate the other of said driving-shafts at a variable speed,substantially as described.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification inthe presence of two subscribing witnesses.

RANDOLPH CROMPTON. ANTHONY J. OREILLY.

Witnesses:

CHARLES F. ALDRICH, GEORGE GooDLINE.

